Prophecy: A Superior Gift
1 Pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the person who speaks in another tongue ,m is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him; he speaks mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. 4 The person who speaks in another tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 I wish all of you spoke in other tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up.
6 So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in other tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation n or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds—whether flute or harp o—if they don’t make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized? 8 In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle? p 9 In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speech, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world, none is without meaning. 11 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. 12 So also you—since you are zealous q for spiritual gifts, ,r seek to excel in building up the church.
13 Therefore the person who speaks in another tongue should pray that he can interpret. 14 For if I pray in another tongue, my spirit s prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. t 15 What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, and I will also sing praise with my understanding. 16 Otherwise, if you praise with the spirit, how will the outsider say “Amen” u at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank v God that I speak in other tongues more than all of you; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words w with my understanding, in order to teach others also, than ten thousand words in another tongue.
20 Brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking. x 21 It is written in the law,
I will speak to this people
by people of other tongues
and by the lips of foreigners,
and even then, they will not listen to me, ,y
says the Lord. 22 Speaking in other tongues, then, is intended as a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in other tongues and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all. 25 The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, “God is really among you.” z
Order in Church Meetings
26 What then, brothers and sisters? Whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, another tongue, or an interpretation. a Everything is to be done for building up. 27 If anyone speaks in another tongue, there are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. b 30 But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged. c 32 And the prophets’ spirits are subject to the prophets, 33 since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints, d 34 the women should be silent in the churches, e for they are not permitted to speak, but are to submit themselves, as the law also says. 35 If they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands f at home, since it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 36 Or did the word of God originate from you, or did it come to you only?
37 If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored. 39 So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager g to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in other tongues. 40 But everything is to be done decently h and in order.
14:1–5. If love motivates the exercise of the gifts, it should not be difficult, as Paul now shows (14:1–25), to determine which gift should be accorded priority in worship. For while all the gifts are desirable, the gift of prophecy builds up or edifies the church to a greater extent than any other. On this basis, prophecy is to be given priority over the gift of speech in tongues, in contrast to some at Corinth who thought otherwise. For speech in tongues is directed in the first instance not toward those present in worship but toward God (14:2). Indeed, the conversation concerning divine mysteries is private to the extent that it is unintelligible to others apart from interpretation. But prophecy (whether it explains the significance of God’s actions and words for the present or reveals what God intends for the future) is given in language expressly to strengthen, encourage, and comfort other persons at worship (14:3).
14:6–12. Several illustrations reinforce the point. If Paul were to come to the Corinthians speaking in tongues, clearly his visit would do them no good unless he also communicated in the intelligible language associated with the other speaking gifts (14:6). Similarly, the sounds produced by musical instruments must be distinct and clear if they are intended to convey a tune or a message that is understandable (14:7–8). Language itself furnishes a final illustration. For even languages, all of which have meaning, cannot convey their meaning so long as the hearer remains a foreigner to the language of the one who speaks (14:9–11).
14:13–19. For the reason that has now been stated and illustrated, persons who speak in tongues in worship should pray that they may interpret this speech to the others present (14:13). This is true even when persons pray in tongues. For in such prayer, apart from interpretation, the individual may communicate with God in a way that brings satisfaction to the spirit without enabling the mind to comprehend its basis (14:14). However, prayer of this kind is not to be abandoned. Instead, it is to be supplemented by prayer that can be understood by the mind—just as the song that springs spontaneously from our spirit is to be supplemented by that which is composed purposefully by our mind—and recognized as a form of prayer that is less desirable in corporate worship because it does not allow others to join in its praise (14:15–17).
14:20–22. The Corinthians are exhorted to have a mature evaluation of the gifts (14:20) by keeping in view a passage from Isaiah (14:21). In context (Is 28:11–12) these words come in response to the mocking of the form of speech used by the prophet to convey God’s message. In turn Isaiah promises that, since Israel will not listen to the Lord’s word in their own language, they will hear the message that his judgment has come upon them spoken by people of strange tongues, and even then they will not listen readily. In this sense, speaking in tongues is meant to be a sign for unbelievers (14:22), as a display of God’s power sent with the intention that when they are at last understood they may also convict. Prophecy’s true purpose, however, is to instruct and speedily convict those who believe in its words.
14:23–25. Paul then applies this interpretative insight to the Corinthian worship service. If the church gathers and “all are speaking in other tongues,” when others come in, they will not readily listen to sounds they do not understand but attribute them instead to a temporary insanity (14:23; see also Ac 2:13–15). But if, in the same circumstances, prophecy is being exercised, then the message of conviction will be immediately understood, and repentance, worship, and confession will surely follow (14:24–25).
14:26–28. In a series of instructions, Paul now spells out the practical consequences of all his teaching in this section (14:26–40). When the church gathers, each person is to make the contribution that the Spirit inspires. Their ministries must be organized by their common commitment to structure worship so as to promote building up the church (14:26). Thus, if those who have the ability to speak in tongues feel inspired to contribute, they must not be allowed to dominate the service. “There are to be only two, or at the most three, each in turn,” and someone should be able to interpret to all present (14:27). If such interpretation is not made available by the Spirit, those who speak in tongues should “keep silent” enough in the church to enable their speech to function as a private prayer (14:28).
14:29–33a. Prophecy likewise, despite its value, is not a gift to be exercised in excess. “Two or three prophets should speak,” and then there must be time allowed for the congregation to reflect on the significance of what it has heard (14:29). If a prophetic insight comes to a church member while another person is giving a prophetic message, the one who is speaking should give way temporarily to the other member (14:30). In this way all who are inspired can “prophesy one by one” and the church can receive the maximum amount of instruction and encouragement (14:31). Those with the gift of prophecy should not object that they cannot be interrupted, because it is within their control to remember and resume their message (14:32). In this way a peaceful order will be established that reflects God’s character (14:33a).
14:33b–35. To explain the meaning of these verses and remove any tension between them and the permission given in 11:5 for women to pray and prophesy has always proved difficult. (Note that some early manuscripts place verses 34–35 after verse 40, indicating that they may have been added later to this letter; note also how the words of verse 36 follow naturally those of verse 33.) The explanation that seems most worthy of consideration takes its cue from the evidence of 14:35. The words “if they want to learn something” appear to point to a certain kind of speaking that was proving itself as disruptive within Corinthian worship as the unrestrained exercise of other kinds of speech and that was associated in this particular congregation with women. Perhaps it was simply the frustrated speech of wives whose soft-spoken questions were ignored by husbands, or the bolder speech of women who ignored their husbands entirely and interrupted to ask questions of the person who was speaking.
14:36–40. The whole section is now brought to a close with a rhetorical question, a statement of the possibilities left open by the argument, and a final exhortation. The question is designed to deflect the Corinthian tendency toward a sense of their own inspiration and the stubbornly prideful maintenance of unhelpful and idiosyncratic customs (14:36). The statement sets forth Paul’s expectation that any true “prophet” or “spiritual” person will acknowledge the truth in what he has written (14:37). If stubborn ignorance is chosen, however, then it will also be safe to ignore such an individual’s claims to be led by the Spirit (14:38). The exhortation epitomizes Paul’s advice. The ability to prophesy should be sought eagerly, and speaking in tongues should not be forbidden (14:39). But whatever form the worship service takes as a result of adherence to these directions, “everything is to be done decently and in order” (14:40).